A Personal Appeal

(originally written and posted on Facebook on May 6, 2013)

Election Day, May 13, 2013, is now just one week away. As the third nominee of Ang Ladlad Partylist, I have campaigned in the networks of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organizations throughout the country, with my fellow nominees Bemz Benedito and Danton Remoto. Together we have done enough, I believe, to secure the votes needed for one or two seats in Congress. But we need an estimated one million votes to get three seats, and that means I personally won’t get into Congress unless we hit that magic number.

This is where YOU come in.

I have not enlisted my own personal network of family and friends until now. Since every voter can vote for only one partylist, we maintained that it would be mostly the LGBT Filipinos who would vote for Ladlad. But Ladlad needs the help of the straight majority to be able to reach a million votes. Will you please help me get elected?

You and I have been friends for a long time, during my many years in the closet. Because you know me personally, you can vouch for my competence and integrity. Your personal endorsement will go a long way to convince undecided voters to cast their one precious partylist vote for Ladlad.

The most important issue in this year’s elections, I submit, is REPRESENTATION—specifically, the representation of the LGBT minority in our political system. The partylist vote aims to give a voice to the under-represented and marginalized groups in our society. The LGBT sector, more than any other, exemplifies this.

Perhaps some of you are still concerned about the moral implications of supporting an LGBT group. Don’t be. I will refer you to two things. First, the April 8, 2010 decision Ang Ladlad vs. Comelec, where the Supreme Court held that “moral disapproval, without more, is not a sufficient governmental interest to justify exclusion of homosexuals from participation in the party-list system.”

Second is to my own book, which you may have already read: God Loves Bakla (international title: Of God and Men), in which I declare my belief that there is no inconsistency between homosexual behavior and my Christian faith.

I am sure you know other gays and lesbians, and you will agree that all of us are, first and foremost, human beings deserving of equal protection of our laws. Please help Ladlad win three seats so that LGBT voices will be better heard.

In this last week of campaigning, I am asking you as a friend to GO OUT AND GET THE VOTE for #28 ANG LADLAD PARTYLIST. What do I mean by this? I want you to PERSONALLY CONTACT ALL your friends and relatives who are registered voters and directly ask them to vote for Ladlad because their vote will help bring Atty. Alikpala into Congress. Straight voters won’t vote for Ladlad if they do not personally know anyone who is “ladlad,” but they could vote for Ladlad if you tell them that their vote is a vote for your friend, someone you know and trust, someone whom you believe will be a good Congressman and will serve the people well.

I started this journey to be a Ladlad representative with little hope of getting into Congress. I was originally only a fourth nominee, but have since been “upgraded” by events, and with the campaign season drawing to a close, I have now come to believe that winning that third seat is actually within striking distance. I am ready to accept whatever happens after the elections, but until then, I would like to ask you to join me in this last-ditch campaign to win THREE SEATS FOR LADLAD PARTYLIST.

Please talk to your husband/wife/lover/paramour/significant other and ask that person to vote for Ladlad #28.

Please ask your children who are registered voters to vote for Ladlad #28.

Please talk to your parents, your brothers and sisters, your cousins, uncles and aunts and ask them to vote for Ladlad #28.

Please ask your officemates and work colleagues to vote for Ladlad #28.

Please reach out to your grade school classmates, your high school batch, and your college batchmates and ask them to vote for Ladlad #28.

Please reach out to your neighbors, your household help, your doctor, your barber, your car mechanic, your co-parents at your children’s schools, anyone you know who is a registered voter, and ask them to vote for Ladlad #28.

And when you ask them to vote for Ladlad #28, please explain this by telling them that their vote will give a voice to the marginalized LGBT sector, and that LGBT voice belongs someone you know, Bong Alikpala, your old friend, someone who you trust will be a good, honest, and competent Congressman. And then please give me the most vigorous endorsement that you can give!

Please pardon that this appeal comes in the form of a Facebook wall post. I will try to reach each of you more personally in the days ahead, but please know that this generic appeal comes with as much urgent sincerity and loving pagmamakaawa as I can manage.

Will you be calling me “Cong Bong” soon? I don’t know. It’s up to you to make it happen.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Sincerely,

Bong Alikpala